Newshub taste-tests Dunedin Hospital food

Newshub reporter Dave Goosselink taste-tested what some have described as "slop" being served to Dunedin Hospital patients, with surprising results.

Mr Goosselink especially ordered the pureed meals, which have become the poster child of the campaign against the food.

The contract was taken over by Compass Group in October last year.

"I do think a lot of the confusion has been around the 40 percent of meals which aren't "standard" meals, and are served to patients based on dietary restrictions," he says.

"The diet or menu options are chosen by clinicians when a patient is first admitted, so if a patient is set a 'soft' meal by clinicians, they can't just choose to change it themselves on the day unless doctors/nurses agree."

(Newshub.)

Mr Gooselink and Newshub cameraman Grant Findlay were asked to rate the food out of five after sampling the fare.

The verdict? An unexpected four out of five -- the pureed meal "didn't look flash, but tasted pretty good," Dave says.

The meals were taken straight off the serving line and part of a rolling fortnightly menu served to patients.

The Dunedin kitchen serves around 350 patients a day at Dunedin and Wakari Hospitals -- dishing out three meals plus snacks.